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Callaway withdraws from consideration for national championship

Callaway players celebrate following their win the MHSAA Boys State 5A Basketball Championship Finals held in Jackson at the Mississippi Coliseum. (Bob Smith-Special to the Clarion Ledger)(Photo: Bob Smith/Special to The Clarion-Ledger)

The Callaway boys basketball team has turned down its invitation to the Dick's Sporting Goods High School Nationals.

The Chargers, who won their fourth straight state championship last Friday, met two of the three requirements set forth by Dick's to be eligible for the high school basketball national championship.

Callaway is ranked in USA Today's Super 25 as the No. 4 program in the country and won a state title this season.

What the Chargers don't have is the approval of the Mississippi High School Activities Association to participate in the event from April 2-4.

The MHSAA does not allow its member schools to participate in postseason play, which it defines as games or tournaments after a sport's season is over. This rule has been in place since 1938 and applies to each of the sports/activities the MHSAA sponsors.

MHSAA executive director Don Hinton told The Clarion-Ledger that a change regarding this rule was discussed earlier this year but not in an official capacity.

"It appears that the pressure of going against the grain with the activities association was a bit much for the school and its leadership and in the interest of preserving the peace, they have decided to opt out," Mississippi state senator John Hohrn said.

Hohrn and other members of the Mississippi House and Senate were lobbying to overturn the MHSAA's decision to not grant Callaway a waiver to participate in the April event.

The deadline for Callaway to either accept or decline its invitation to the national championship is 5 p.m. Tuesday.

"I felt like at this point in time there was a lot of pressure being put on my guys and whether they were going to go or not go," Callaway coach David Sanders said. "I didn't want to put them in a situation where they had to be political. I didn't want it to be tomorrow that they find out they couldn't go and then people were coming after us and the next thing we know we're in a full-fledged battle with the MHSAA."

Callaway requested a waiver late last week to allow for a temporary lift to the rule to allow the Chargers to participate in the tournament. Hinton told The Clarion-Ledger that "any change of policy or change in a rule would strictly be a board decision."

The MHSAA's executive committee went into an emergency session last Saturday to discuss the issue. The committee is still expected to vote on the decision on Tuesday, despite Callaway opting out of contention one day before the deadline.

The Chargers burst into the national spotlight this year was fueled by five-star guard Malik Newman, who led Callaway to its fourth consecutive championship by averaging nearly 30 points per game.

In February, Callaway played Dominican (Wi.) on ESPNU as part of GEICO's ESPN High School Showcase. The Chargers participation was also sought after by other tournaments during the regular and postseason.

All games during the Dick's Sporting Goods High School Nationals will be aired on ESPN's family of networks, providing unprecedented exposure for the tournament's participants.

Hohrn says he plans to continue lobbying for the dismissal of the MHSAA's rule on postseason play as well as other changes regarding how the organization operates.

"As a legislator, I personally plan to look at what options we might have in the legislature to reign in some of the activities of the Mississippi High School Activities Association and see if we can have a fairer, more up-to-date view of how high school athletics should go in Mississippi.

"The process by which rules are made and are revised is a very cumbersome process," Hohrn said. "It takes too long. It needs to have a contemporary approach given to it and not something that's outdated. That process needs to change. There needs to be some additional oversight of the activities association, in my opinion, and that's one of the things we'll be exploring."